The teabaggers and the birthers and the others who are whipped in a frenzy about killing healthcare reform have shown that they're indeed going to follow their marching orders and try to shut down this debate. By now everyone has seen the memos that instruct these astroturf fueled groups how to stop the conversation from being had in the first place. We've all seen the results. Town hall meetings shut down by screaming mobs. Death threats. Hangings in effigy. Signs that tell people to kill themselves.
By their own admission, this is no debate. The opposition has descended into thuggery, pure and simple.
And yet the American public is still desperately wanting reform. They want their health care costs to go down. They want to know that they won't be financially ruined for life by a medical catastrophe. And they want to be able to know that the insurance they pay for will actually cover what it's supposed to cover, not get stuck in a denial-based bureaucracy. Many of us are paying a lot of money for health insurance, knowing full well that an illness or injury could still bankrupt us even with insurance. And most of us have had routine claims denied. We need the system to be fixed so that it is fair and accessible to everyone.
You know how you know that the teabaggers and the health insurance industry know that they are on the wrong side of this? They know if the debate happens, they lose, even if almost all Americans win. They are using thug tactics to prevent the debate from happening at all. When an entrenched power fears that something is a threat to them, the first thing they will try to do is shut off information. We've seen this happen countless times, whether in religion, dictatorships, or many other situations. Those that have used thuggery to stifle dissent have always ended up on the wrong side of history.
They offer no discussion, simply threats. That is what thugs, not protesters, do. They try, by brute force, to silence any voice that disagrees with them. That is what thugs, not protesters, do. They make people fear for their safety simply because they oppose them. That is what thugs, not protesters, do. They shout lies, such as saying that there will be euthanasia for the elderly, to scare the vulnerable parts of our population. That is what thugs, not protesters, do. "Try to rattle them, not have an intelligent discussion." That's the domain of thugs and bullies.
This is the most important issue I have seen come up in my lifetime. If it were to get defeated on its merits, that's not crushing, because if that happens you can always work to bring something in that can pass muster. But this is about inflicting political damage at the cost of harming the entire American public. We're closer than we've ever been. Don't let these thugs wreck this for America. Show up at the town halls in your area. Get there early. Sit up front. Call them out when GOP'ers support their thuggery. And keep the pressure up on your representatives and senators. Let's make sure that these first steps to fixing our health care system do not get crushed under the fist of these thugs.